New home for New Century Technology High School?

File photoNew Century Technology High School shares a campus in Cummings Research Park with Columbia High School.

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Five years ago, when New Century Technology High School switched locations, school leaders figured the move wouldn't be permanent.

Now, because of crowding at the shared Columbia High School campus, the city school board is talking about finding New Century a new home, but it's uncertain where.

New Century, whose students take high-tech classes in preparation for a tech-centered career, has about 300 students. The campus, nestled in Cummings Research Park, serves 957 students in a building designed for 800. School leaders expect Columbia will grow along with development in west Huntsville.

"To me, they must be separated if both are to succeed," board member Topper Birney said Thursday.

At a school board meeting, Birney suggested New Century relocate to Westlawn Middle School, which can hold 720 students. In turn, Westlawn students would go to Stone Middle School, which the board closed last summer.

That scenario gives New Century its own campus, which students and teachers there have wanted for years. New Century would also be closer to the city's core, which board members hope would attract students from Huntsville and Grissom high schools. Huntsville and Grissom are also overcrowded.

But such a move could also be expensive at a time when school leaders face a $22 million deficit next year.

Stone needs a new roof and air-conditioning unit that would cost about $5 million. It's also unclear what renovations might be needed at Westlawn to accommodate New Century's tech-centered curriculum.

Board member Laurie McCaulley floated the idea of relocating New Century to the new Lee High School slated for completion in August 2011.

The current Lee has 742 students, according to Thursday's board meeting agenda.

"You can marry those two campuses together and still have ample room," McCaulley said. Lee also has a pre-engineering magnet program, which McCaulley suggested might complement New Century's curriculum.

New Century assistant principal Dawn Ward spoke at the board meeting, objecting to the idea of housing New Century with another school.

"There are things we do at New Century that, to marry with other buildings, just would not work for us," Ward said.

But Ward and other school leaders want New Century to grow. Ward said New Century can accept 100 freshmen a year, but 200 apply.

"We want it to grow, but we have to be careful in managing how much we let it grow right now," Superintendent Ann Roy Moore said.

Board member Jennie Robinson said New Century has potential to be one of the "strongest attractors" to Huntsville City Schools. She suggested a committee be formed that could create a plan for New Century's future. But if that doesn't happen, she suggested New Century move to the new Lee.